The special relationship between people and dogs began thousands of years ago. Ancient peoples knew that having animals around had some psychological and emotional benefits. In the 1800s, famous nurse Florence Nightingale began to see that pets reduced anxiety in hospital patients. Today, the human-animal bond is readily apparent where therapy dogs are involved. Therapy dogs are friendly and easy-going, and specially trained to provide benefits to people in hospitals, nursing homes, schools and many other places. Therapy dogs even help out in natural disasters.
